Stone circles, Iron Age hillforts and sleepy villages... Mary-Ann Ochota leaves modern life behind to roam the Ridgeway, the ancient trail through southern England’s mysterious chalklands
The wind whips over the wide fields and a flock of starlings skitters across the sky, tumbling in the gusts. We lean into the weather, eyes stinging and cheeks burning. A few moments later, the squall has blown through and a glittering haze hangs in the air. The landscape is gilded and magical.
This elemental world, with huge skies and bold weather fronts, isn’t in a remote corner of Britain’s mountains – it’s in Wiltshire. And the route I’m following is an ancient one, a line cut through the landscape by pilgrims, traders, raiders and travellers for some 5,000 years.
The route is the Ridgeway. Now a designated National Trail, it follows a chalk ridgeline that rises and falls for 87 miles across southern England, from Wiltshire eastward to the Chiltern Hills north of London, via the counties of Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire. For the walker, the Ridgeway offers sweeping views across wide fields, through ancient woodlands, along wide droveways with wizened hawthorns, down deep green holloways and a string of intriguing prehistoric monuments. If you like geology, geography, history and archaeology, wildlife or birdwatching, then the Ridgeway is a route for you.
Many walkers take on the challenge of walking the whole route – either in one go, over a week, in a couple of long weekends, or a series of day walks (see box, page 51). Others prefer to explore a shorter section as part of a circular walk. Whether you’re on foot, bike wheels or horseback, the gentle terrain and easy-to-follow route make the Ridgeway a perfect introduction to Britain’s long-distance National Trails.
ANCIENT AVEBURY
My Ridgeway adventure started at Avebury, at the western end of the trail. It’s such an extraordinary place that I gave myself a day to explore the ancient sites there before setting off on my hike.
The village is in the centre of a vast earthwork henge – a circuit of banks and ditches 10 times the size of Stonehenge and built by hand, using only stone tools, almost 5,000 years ago. Inside the earthwork is a circle of standing stones – absolute whoppers. From the
